More schools drug-free, survey says / But marijuana easier to buy than alcohol

Robert Patrick, Los Angeles Times

Published 4:00 am, Wednesday, August 21, 2002

2002-08-21 04:00:00 PDT Washington -- Nearly two-thirds of teenagers say their schools are drug-free, according to a survey released Tuesday.

But it's good news, bad news for parents, because the survey group of 1,000 12- to 17-year-olds also says that marijuana is as easy to get as tobacco and even easier to buy than alcohol.

The survey, conducted by Columbia University'sNational Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse, reported that 63 percent of teens said their schools were drug-free, slightly more than double the number reported in 1998. In 1999 and 2000, 44 percent and 45 percent of teens called their schools drug-free. The center did not conduct a survey in 2001.

CASA President Joseph Califano said the increase might be a result of a greater awareness of the dangers of drug use or an increase in drug testing in schools. He said Sept. 11 might also have played a part -- citing greater parental involvement, increased patriotism among teens or a heightened association between drug-dealing and terrorism as possible factors in lowering drug use.

The annual survey is designed to analyze all the factors that may come into play as teens decide whether to use alcohol, tobacco or illegal drugs, Califano said.

Surveys have stressed the importance of parental involvement and two-parent households in reducing teen drug use. But this survey shows that the 541 parents interviewed are more pessimistic about the likelihood that their children are using drugs.

Although parents listed drug use as their biggest concern, 35 percent say they have "little influence" over whether their teen uses drugs, up from 25 percent in 1999, and only 51 percent of parents described their children's schools as drug-free.

Califano also said that controls on the underage purchase of tobacco seemed to be working, but that marijuana was becoming easier to obtain.

The percentage of teens who listed cigarettes as the easiest illegal drug to purchase fell from 47 percent in 1999 to 31 percent in 2002. Marijuana was rated as easiest to obtain by 27 percent of teens in 1999 and 34 percent in 2002, but the difference in the ease of obtaining tobacco and pot was within the survey's margin of error. Alcohol was listed as the most easily purchased by 12 percent in 1999 and 14 percent this year.

One-quarter of teens said they had seen drugs being sold in school or on school grounds, and almost half said they could buy pot in 24 hours or less -- 27 percent in an hour or less.

The average age for that first cigarette puff was just over 12 years, according to the study. Drinkers started at 12 1/2 and marijuana users a year later.